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June 12, 2020 – Friday Message

Greetings fellow UPMA Members:

This week I had the opportunity to talk with most of the Chapter Presidents regarding the postponement of the National Convention and what our current plans are as we move forward.   That is what we are doing, we are moving forward and have given the chapters an extra three months to schedule their conventions.  It is my hope and prayer that we will be able to get all of the conventions in and allow our members to vote for their national officers and to cast their votes for how they want the chapters electoral votes cast when we do have the actual convention.    As I have stated previously, because of social distancing and other COVID-19 guidelines we may well have to limit the number of people attending the national convention and I have verified with the parliamentarians that this is acceptable if the situation calls for such a decision.    Those decisions, however, will not be made until a later date when we know what those guidelines are.    We will work to keep you informed through this message, as well as on the website and in the UPMA Leader magazine as to what our plans are as we go forward.

This week marks the end of the over five-year tenure of Postmaster General Megan Brennan.  Over her time in the PMG position Megan has always been approachable and has worked well with us prior to the merger and since the merger with us here at UPMA.    I appreciate all the efforts she made to do her best to improve employee relations and to do what she felt was best for the United States Postal Service and those of us that work for the USPS.    So, on behalf of UPMA, I would like to wish Megan the best and I hope and pray that she is able to enjoy a very long, restful and fulfilling retirement.

This past Tuesday I had the opportunity to meet our incoming Postmaster General, Louis DeJoy via ZOOM.   It was a very good meeting and based on my first impression, I am looking forward to working with him.   During our meeting he talked about the meetings he has had to get to the know the people he will be working with and he talked about his past history of working with the Postal Service in his logistics company.    He did state that he knows that he has a lot to get his hands around as he steps into the position on Monday, June 15^th.   His official swearing in will take place on Tuesday, June 16^th.  He stated that his priorities as the PMG will be to make sure that we take care of our employees, look for ways to improve the service we give to our customers because that is the backbone of what we do and that it will be essential that we look for new and innovative ways to increase our revenue and expand the services that we offer.    So, while change is almost always a difficult thing, I feel we will be able to move forward with Mr. DeJoy as the leader of our beloved Postal Service.

Last weekend began our Chapter Convention season.   We had two conventions last weekend in Florida and Oklahoma and just yesterday we had the convention in North Dakota.    The number of active members attending the conventions has been encouraging.   So far, the top spot goes to North Dakota with 17 active members at the convention in Bismarck.   Tomorrow is the convention in Louisiana, and we have just one convention next week in Michigan.    With the postponement of the National Convention, we have many chapters that are moving the dates of their conventions to later in the year, as well.    We are doing our best to keep our national website as up to date as possible, however; I would encourage you to reach out to your chapter leadership to verify what the dates of your particular convention are and what the location will be.   As always, I am encouraging our chapters to make sure that when they have their conventions that they practice the social distancing and other guidelines that are in place for their area as they move forward.

The USPS continues to monitor the situation with COVID-19 and the number of cases on a daily basis, but with the decrease in cases in some parts of the country, many of the Districts and Areas have cut back on the number of meetings that they have to give the management associations and unions updates.  With that said the leaders that I have heard from continue to say that if they see the need to increase those meetings in the future they will not hesitate to do so.   As always, I encourage you, as the leaders in your facility, to make sure that the employees are adhering to the guidelines that are in place and that you have the adequate supplies on hand to make sure that the employees are protected with the personal protective equipment that they might need, or want to use.   There are several news reports that are saying as we continue to open parts of the country and have expanded contact that we might see a spike in cases.    I know that the officials will be monitoring this and will make whatever adjustments need to be made in what is permitted as far as gatherings, etc. are concerned.   Make sure that you are always monitoring the situation in your area.

So, take care and stay safe and healthy.

Thanks,

Dan Heins, National President